Not about not trying hard enough. I just believe that good things happen to good people. I'm not down on anybody. Quite the opposite, I'd fall over myself helping people get what they want, I like to see people happy.
I know you are overstating just a shade but in reality if someone is failing thousands of interviews then I'd say something is seriously wrong with thier approach and or expectations. I don't agree with the whole "well I studied 5 years to be an accountant therefore I will only work as an accountant I'm not prepared to do otherwise". Sometimes you gotta go a couple steps back to go a few forward. (Well according to Paula Abdul anyway).
Failing criteria like wrong school etc is all too common (and sad, and unfair, and infuriating) but I'd flip it around and ask why someone would want to be involved in an organisation so elitist? Wanting a job with people like that kind of exposes your own desires to be 'one of them', encouraging the behaviour.
Man, I was at that 'Newcastle club' with a friends dad once, the nonsense that group of wankers went on with was truly embarrassing. Why anyone would want to be involved in something like that astounds me.
I've never had a chance to 'give up'. I've never had a proper job interview in my life. I have zero bits of paper to tell everyone how good I am at anything in particular. I chose a path to go down living my life and not having qualifications or a leg up has made it difficult. But things are working out so I'm happy, and if they change then you reset and go again.